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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries and Bananas

I am not a breakfast person. Truly, I'm not. That's not to say that I don't love sitting down to a plate of Belgian waffles, or a nice stack of pancakes, or even grabbing a bagel with cream cheese every now and then before class. I just don't like eating in the morning. I'm not really sure why; I'm just never hungry in the morning I suppose. I do need a glass or orange juice though, that's just non-negotiable. There's that whole cliché argument that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I'm not about to dispute that. I'm sure breakfast really is very important and if I ate breakfast more often, I'm sure I would have more energy during the day, or whatever those eating-breakfast-on-a-daily-basis benefits are. I'm going to give it a shot this year though. This is resolution #1.

Resolution #2. Get back in shape and get all fit and healthy again. I did a pretty good job of this last summer; I ate a really nicely balanced diet, completed a round of P90X (it works), and I was pretty happy with the results...then came school...sigh. Those really late nights in studio several times a week were seriously counterproductive to whatever health/fitness gains I had made during the summer. I was always tired, had no time or energy to exercise, and my eating healthy plan totally went out the window. I mean, healthy eating options at 3 AM are pretty hard to come by, but this is something that I am going to strive towards correcting this coming semester. My two resolutions are pretty simple and complimentary. The breakfast one should definitely help out with the get-in-shape one, which is great. As far as exercising goes, yesterday's day 1 of P90X round two went smoother than I thought! It's just a matter of keeping up with the routine once I get back to school in two weeks, but I think it'll be ok. Gotta try at least!

Given this game plan, I figured I would start the New Year off right and make something delicious and healthy for breakfast: baked oatmeal with blueberries and bananas! I love oatmeal; a nice bowl of hot oatmeal with some fresh berries is a perfect breakfast on a cold winter's day, but this is something else. I had never had baked oatmeal before, but I had seen it popping up on lots of food blogs here and there, and it looked really delicious. Not to mention easy! I think I spent maybe ten minutes putting everything together, and then 35 minutes in the oven later and I had a whole batch of delicious and healthy baked oatmeal. The best part about this is that the oatmeal reheats very nicely. My mom wasn't home when I took the oatmeal out of the oven, so I reheated some for her and it tasted just as good! This is definitely a recipe to keep bookmarked, as it's simple to prepare, highly versatile (use whatever nuts and fruit you want!), and most importantly delicious.

However. Don't fret that there's like no sugar and butter in this recipe. Dishes with buttery and sugary goodness will be coming soon. Let's just try to mix in a couple more healthful options every now and then. Enjoy!Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries and Bananasadapted slightly from The Curvy CarrotIngredients1 cup rolled oats1/4 cup slivered almonds (or walnuts or pecans, whatever you like!)1/2 teaspoon baking powder3/4 teaspoon cinnamonpinch of salt1/4 cup honey1 cup milk1 egg1 tablespoon melted butter1 teaspoon vanilla extract2-3 ripe bananas (I used 3 bananas that were on the smaller side)1 cup blueberriesDirectionsPreheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray a 2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray or melted butter and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine together the oats, half of almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir together. In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract.

Slice the bananas into 1/2 inch pieces, and arrange the slices in a single layer on the bottom of the ceramic dish.

Sprinkle half of the blueberries over the bananas, and then pour the oat mixture over the blueberries.

Pour the milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the mixture as evenly as possible over the oats. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries and almonds over the the top.Bake the oatmeal for 35 minutes, just until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal has set. Serve warm from the oven, and serve with more honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, or whatever toppings you desire.